Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

As passersby crossed the intersection at State and Fourth streets in downtown Los Altos last week, they found it difficult to overlook a new addition – “Cross Hatch,” the vibrant street painting by artist Jessica Stockholder that metaphorically pops off the pavement.

Some pedestrians stood pensively along the edge of the enlarged canvas on first encounter, trying to determine whether they should step on the colorful compilation of lines and shapes. Others jogged or drove by without missing a beat.

“I haven’t seen anything like this,” said Jim Wilson of the unique artwork he stumbled on during his visit to Los Altos from Fairfax, Va.

Wilson noted that the creation was different from anything he had encountered during years of international travel. His friend, Pam Yavorsky, chimed in that the artwork “gives a little town a lot of character.”

Los Altos resident Cyrus Heidari echoed Wilson’s and Yavorsky’s sentiments, adding that the aesthetics were pleasing and that the artwork “is not too expensive if it lasts.”

Stockholder’s project is the first of six installations for “Project Los Altos,” a collaboration between the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the city of Los Altos. The intersection transformed from asphalt to art in under 48 hours.

Although appearing random in both its emergence and physical location, Los Altos City Clerk Jon Maginot explained that the installation is quite intentional.

“SFMOMA and the artist proposed the installation and worked with city staff, including Public Works, to come up with something that would be safe as well as clearly marked for drivers and pedestrians,” he said. “The intersection was also chosen because of the relatively low amount of traffic that this location gets compared to other downtown intersections.”

In Stockholder’s “Cross Hatch,” sharp, abstract shapes extend onto the sidewalk and into the parking plaza driveway and Community Plaza, where royal-blue paint conceals swaths of grass.

The artwork bleeds across boundaries so much that some cars have veered across the sidewalk, leaving evidence via curbside tire marks. Maginot said the city is addressing safety concerns by working with the artist to incorporate additional visual cues to delineate the driveway. In the interim, orange safety cones dot the entry to the parking plaza.

Although safety hazards may not be part of Stockholder’s artistic vision, she uses the technique of extending her canvas in unexpected ways in many of her site-specific creations.

According to SFMOMA officials, how people and other elements interact with the artwork is part of Stockholder’s vision. Bleachers on the perimeter of the artwork reinforce the notion that the elements of intersection – people, cars, layers of leaves and even weathering – are an intentional addition to the two-dimensional base paint, providing an opportunity for observation and engagement.

With additional “Project Los Altos” installations scheduled November through March, residents can expect to see more modern-art surprises downtown.

For more information on “Project Los Altos,” visit sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/572. For a full guide to "Project Los Altos: SFMOMA in the Silicon Valley," click here.

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